Rug scrubbing machine



Nov. 6, 1962 F. x. DUBAY 3,051,859

RUG SCRUBBING MACHINE Filed July 17, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 44 5 X ss 54Q; l 46 INVENTOR.

i i FRANK x. DUBAY m u 48 AQ iJJ/mm 7 ATTORNEY Nov. 6, 1962 DUB,3,061,859

RUG SCRUBBING MACHINE Filed July 17, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR.

FRANK X DUBAY WEJM ATTORNEY ilnited dtates Eaten-t 3,661,859 RUGSCRUBIBING MACHlNE Frank X. Dubay, 316 W. 50th St, Minneapolis, Minn.Filed July 17, 1959, tier. No. 827,762 15 Claims. ((31. 15-53) Thisinvention relates to a rug scrubbing machine and more particularly to amachine of that type of low silhouette and relatively light weight whichcan be used in cramped quaters, and under :low devices such as seats,for scrubbing a rug, without removing the rug from the floor space towhich it is attached.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved rugscrubbing machine of low silhouette and so made as to be capable ofbeing used under low devices such as seats and in cramped quarters. Itis another object of the invention to provide a rug scrubbing machinewherein the rug is scrubbed with a foam that is composed of minutebubbles and which is substantially freed from discreet moisture. It isanother object of the invention to provide an improved rug scrubbingmachine which is capable of being operated in close quarters and closelyadjacent the sides of a rug and into square corners. It is anotherobject of the invention to provide an improved rug scrubbing machinehaving a self-contained foam generating and distributing device.

Other and further objects are those inherent in the invention hereinillustrated, described and claimed and will be apparent as thedescription proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends this inventionthen comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims, the following description setting forth indetail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these beingindicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which theprinciples of the invention may be employed.

The invention is illustrated with reference to the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the machine of the inventionpartly broken away and in section;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the machine, some portions beingshown broken away and in section;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical side sectional View of the lower portion of themachine, partly broken away and partly in section, this View being takenalong the line and in the direction of arrows 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal plan view of the lower portion of the machinetaken along the line and in the direction of arrows 44 of FIGURES 1 and2. In this view the cover over the motor, pump, and various othermechanisms has been removed;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line and in thedirection of arrow 55 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the lineand in the direction of arows 6-6 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical transverse sectional viewtaken along the line and in the direction of arrows 77 of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings, the machine comprises generally a basehousing generally designated 10 and an upper tank and handle housinggenerally designated 11. Referring to the base housing 10 this comprisesa casting generally designated 12, which is preferably made of aluminumor magnesium alloy. The base housing has two spaced transverse spacedopen-bottomed recesses 14 and 15 which receive brushes 3 and 46 and asmaller intermediate parallel recess 16C which receives roller 42. Therecesses '14 and 15 are in the shape of half-cylinders down to the levelof line AA, and below this level the i atented Nov. 6, 1962 walls of therecesses 14 and 15 are vertical. The recess 14 is connected by web 16Ato recess 16C, and the latter is connected by web 1613 to recess 15. Thecasting, thus including recesses 14, web 16A, recess 16C, web 16B, andrecess 15 forms a complete cover. The housing portions '14 and 15 arealso provided with antrums 17 and 18 which extend throughout the width Uof the housing, which is approximately 40-80% of the total effectiveworking width W of the machine. The base casting 10 is provided withendplates 66 and 67 that close the ends of the recesses 14, 16C, and 15.The endplates are fastened by suitable screws. Endplates 66 and 67 formbearings for the axles of brushes 39 and 40 and roller 42.

Adjacent the center line of the machine, there is an upwardly extendingmounting web 19, see FIGURE 4, which serves to stiffen the housing, andalso serves as a plate for mounting the motor generally designated 20,see FIGURE 4. The motor assembly is bolted directly to the web 1? bymeans of the bolt 2121. Web 19 serves as an endplate for the motor. Themotor shaft has drive pinions at each end, one of which, i.e. the pinion22, is shown in FIGURE 4, the other pinion 24 being illustrated inFIGURE 3. The pinion 22 operates directly upon the driven gear 25 whichis the input power gear for the air pump 26. The pinion 24, FIGURE 3,drives a reduction spur gear 27 which has a smaller diameter gear 28integral therewith that in turn drives the driving gear 29, the lattergear being meshed in driving relationship with the companion drivinggear 30. Each of the driving gears 29 and 30 is provided with anintegral smaller diameter chain sprocket, sprocket 31 being on gear 29and sprocket 32 being on gear 30. The two gears 29 and 39 are driven inopposite directions and by virtue of the roller-chains 33 and 34 whichrun on sprockets 31 and 32 respectively, they drive the sprockets 35 and36 on the brush shafts 37 and 38 respectively. Brush shaft 37 which isjournalled in endplates 66 and 67 serves as a mounting for the brush 39and the brush shaft 38, likewise journalled in endplates 66 and 67,serves as a mounting for the brush 40.

Each of these brushes is composed of a central hub, keyed to operate onthe shaft which supports it. In the form illustrated the portion of theshaft which engages the brush hub may be non-circular (square) asillustrated in FIGURE 5. Bristles 39A and 40A are set into the brush hubin any desired manner and they extend outwardly therefrom thus providingan effective cylindrical brushing diameter. Since the brushes 39 and 40must operate under wet conditions it is desirable that the brushconstruction be such that the hubs and bristles are not seriouslyaffected by moisture.

Referring to FIGURES 2 and 4, the main casting 10 which serves to formthe housing for the brushes also serves to form a housing for thesmaller roller generally designated 42. This roller is made so that itsaxis of rotation can be adjusted up and down. This is best shown inFIGURE 7. The roller arrangement consists of an aluminum or stainlesssteel tube 43 into which at opposite ends there are pressed the oillessbearings 44 and 45. The roller 42 turns on a shaft generally designated46 which has the characteristic that it has reduced eccentric endportions 47 and 51 which are of the same size and which have their axesaligned. The eccentric end 47 has a screw slot 47A by which the wholeshaft 46 can be turned whereas the eccentric end 51 is spaced from themain portion of the shaft 46 by a flange 50. The eccentric end 51 alsois centrally threaded to receive a locking screw 53 having a large head.The end 47 fits into a bearing aperture 48 in endplate 66 of the machinewhereas the end 51 of the shaft fits into an aperture 54 in the otherendplate 67 of the machine. By loosening the locking screw 53 and byinserting a screw driver in the slot 47A, the shaft 46 can be rotatedfor adjusting the vertical position at which the roller 42 operates.When the adjustment is made, the screw 53 is pulled up tight and theshaft 46 thereafter does not rotate, and the roller 42 runs on theshaft. This arrangement permits the vertical height of the roller 42 tobe easily adjusted relative to the tips of the bristles on the brushes39 and 40. The roller 42 is adjusted so that it is positioned down farenough to sustain an appreciable part of the weight when the machine ispropelled over the surface being cleaned. When the machine is used oncarpeting or rugs, the roller is set lower than when the machine is usedon a hard floor such as one covered with plastic tile or the like. Foreither use the bristle tips should of course engage the floor covering,whether carpet or hard covering,

. such as tile. The preferred positioning of the roller 42 permits themachine to rock very slightly on the roller 42 and in the direction offorward motion. Thus, as shown in FIGURE 1, when the machine is pushed(by the handles) in direction of arrow D1, it will rock slightly in thedirection of arrow R1 and when pulled back in direction of arrow D2, itwill rock very slightly in the direction of arrow R2. This amount ofrocking is hardly appreciable and should not lift the trailing rollerfrom the surface being cleaned. The objective is merely to increase thebrush pressure slightly on the forward roller and decrease the pressureslightly on the rearward roller when the rotation of the brushes 39 and49 is in the direction of the roller 42 (as shown by the arrows in FIG-URE This slight increase of pressure on the forward brush will give thatbrush increased traction and the machine tends to pull itself along inthe direction it is being pushed. This provides the effect ofself-propulsion. To stop such propulsive motion, it is only necessary topush (or pull) on the handle in a direction opposite to the direction ofmotion and this will provide a suficient reverse rocking to stop themotion or even start it in the opposite direction. The net result is amachine motion which is linear, partially self-propulsive and very easyto control.

The endplates 66 and 67 of the machine have an upwardly extending endwall 66 (on endplate 66) and a similar end wall 61 at the opposite end(on endplate 67). A removable sheet metal cover 63 is attached to theseend walls. The cover has outwardly bent lower edges 63A which are spaceda little above the recess portions 14 and of the base casting so as toallow ventilation. These end walls also serve to provide the pivots 64-and 65 upon which the lower bifurcated end of the tank and handlestructure 11 can pivot.

A tank and handle structure comprises the bifurcated lower end piecegenerally designated 70 which has downwardly extending portions 71 and72 which extend down to and are pivoted upon the frame members 60 and 61and are held in place by the pivot screws 61A and 62A. This bifurcatedend 70 has an upper sheet metal portion at 73 which is generally curvedat the top but which is open at the bottom. Upon the central portion 73Aof this member is flattened and to it there is bolted an upstandingrectangular tank 72 having a closed bottom 72A and closed sidewalls butan open top. The tank extends upwardly and is provided with a gasket 74at its upper edge. The portion 72 is essentially an open-topped tank ofrectangular cross section.

The top of this tank is arranged to be closed by a cap and handlecasting generally designated 75 which serves not only as a cap for thetank but also it is provided with the handle pieces 7 677 by which theoperator may grip this portion of the machine for guiding the entiredevice. The cap and handle casting is of generally pyramidal form havingwalls which slope downwardly and outwardly in all directions. At itslower edge these walls are provided with a recess at 79 so shaped thatit will the pipe.

. 4 engage upon the gasket 74 which is in place upon the upper edge ofthe tank 72.

The tank 72 is provided with a plurality of vertical pipes which alsoserve to clamp the cap 75 down on the gasket 74 and serve to hold thetank 72 onto member 76. These are as follows: One vertical pipe at 81.This is sweatsoldered to coupling 83, having a threaded end which passesthrough matching holes in the bottom 72A of tank 72 and member 70. Thecoupling is either brazed to the-tank bottom or adequately gasketed andis held in place by nut 83A. The coupling 83 serves the dual purpose ofa coupling on pipe 81 and as one of the fastenings ,by which tank 72 isheld in place. At the top, pipe 81 is sweat-soldered into similarcoupling 82 which has a threaded end that passes upwardly through web 78and is held in place by nut 82A. This serves as one of the pipeattachments by which the cap 75 is held in place. Pipe 81 serves as anelectrical conduit for the electric wires 84- which extend down to themotor 20.

In addition there is provided a vertical pipe at 85 which likewise isfitted in fluid tight connection to a coupling at 86 in the bottom 8% ofthe tank 72 and with another cooperating coupling at 87 which isthreaded into the wall 78 of cap 75. Couplings 86 have a threaded endwhich extends down through apertures in tank bottom 72A and portion 73Aand is held in place by nut 86A. This serves as another fastening fortank 72 to member 76. This pipe 85 is connected by means of theconnection pipe 88 to the outlet 39 of the air pump 26 and it conveysair under pressure from the pump up through the tank 72 to the coupling87 which is the bottom end, of a control valve 87A, the handle on thevalve being at 8713. The outlet from the valve is at 87C and connectsvia the pipe 89 to another pipe 9% which extends downwardly through thesqueeze coupling at 91 in the wall 78 and thence through an intermediatecoupling 92 to a lower end 94, which is elevated slightly above thebottom 72A of the tank 72. This lower end of the pipe 94 is closed offat its bottom end but is provided with a plurality of small holes 95 inthe sidewalls of Accordingly, air under pressure after being throttledto a desired amount in the valve 87 will pass downwardly through thepipes 9t)94 and be ejected out of the little holes 95 into a liquidwithin the tank 72. The liquid in tank 72 is introduced through fillerhole 112 (see FIGURE 1) up to about line BB, and is a detergent liquidcapable of foaming when air is blown through it. The bubbles cause thefoam which rises above level B-B to entirely fill the tank 72 and thatportion of the cap and handle casting 75 which forms the top closure.

There is still another pipe in the tank 72, this being the pipe 160(FIGURE 2), which is provided with a sweat T 101 at its upper end (seeFIGURES l, 2, and 6). The upper portion of the T 101 is provided with aplug 102 which is sweat-soldered in place, the plug being threaded toreceive a cap screw 104 which passes through the wall 78 of cap-handlecasting 75. By tightening on the screw 104 the sweat coupling 101 andhence the pipe are held tightly in place. The lower end of the pipe 100passes down through the coupling 165 which is fitted in liquid tightrelationship in the bottom 80 of the tank 72 and extends downvia thepipe 106 which then branches into the two leads 106A and 106B, seeFIGURE 4. These branches 106A and 10613 extend to and enter into theamtrums at the couplings 107A and 107B, respectively.

Referring to FIGURE 6, at the upper end of the pipe 100 the side openingof the sweat T 101 is engaged by a fitting generally designated 110which is composed of a screw plug 111 into which a tube, made of wovenwire 112, rolled into the form of a tube. The tube 112 is soldered at114 to the first one of a plurality of washers 115 which are stackedtogether, and between these washers are little discs of finer gaugewoven wire 116. The

washers 115 all are the same size and the discs of (finer mesh) wovenwire 116 are placed between them.- They are all then pressed solidlytogether so as to form a tube and enough solder is placed on theirexterior surface so as to hold them together. The exterior is thenfinished tubular. The tube 112 (of somewhat coarser woven wire) is thenattached by soldering at 114. The entire arrangement is then fitted intothe plug 111 and can be soldered along the line of entrance at 117, ifdesired. The plug 111 thus becomes integral with the tube 112 which isin turn integral with the tubular arrangement made up of the washers andwire discs 115-116. The entire arrangement is then entered smoothly intothe side branch 101A of the sweat T 191 and by screwing it tight on theplug, the assembly is made fast. A neat fit between the exterior surfaceof the washers 115 and the sweat T prevents leakage.

On another surface of the cap and handle casting 75 there is provided afiller inlet opening 112 which is capped by the removable cap 113.

The tank portion 72 is provided with handles 76 and 77. The upperportion of the casting 75 is closed by a cover plate 115 that is held inplace by screws 115A. An electrical cord 116 enters one of the handles76 and into the space enclosed by the cover plate 115. An electricalswitch 118 mounted in the cover plate serves to control the circuit fromthe electric cord, and to the wire 34 which leads down to the motor 20.

Referring to FIGURE 1, it will be noted that the portions 71 and 72 ofthe member 70 are tapered at their lower ends and that the entire tankand handle structure can be moved about the pivots 61A, 62A to extremepositions, which are shown in dotted line in FIGURE 1, the other beingsimilar but in the opposite direction.

In use, the motor is turned on by operation of the switch 118 and thevalve 87S7A87B is open enough so as to allow air, which is compressed bythe compressor 26 and conveyed upwardly by the pipe 85, to pass throughthe valve and then downwardly through the pipe 9094. The compresssed aircauses bubbles to form in the foamable liquid within the tank 72 andthese bubbles rise and as a foam completely fill the tank composed ofthe portion 7 2 and the lower portion of the cap and handle structure75. ward drainage of the discrete liquid will occur, and the liquid inthe tank portion 7275, to a position above the liquid level B-B in saidtank, a certain amount of downward drainage of the discrete liquid willoccur, and the varying sized bubbles will become dryer as they riseabove the liquid level B-B. However, the resultant foam is still quitewet. The foam then passes into the fitting 110 (see FIGURE 6), firstpassing through the coarser screen portion 112 and thence axiallythrough the plurality of spaced, finer screen portions 116 and finallyinto the sweat T 101 and thence downwardly into the pipe and through thetwo pipes 106A and 41613 and into the antrums 17 and 18, whereupon thefoam is distributed along a portion U of the upper surface of therevolving brushes 39 and 49, which represents approximately 40 to 70% ofthe length of the brushes. A goodly amount of foam is thus spread on thebrushes as they revolve. It will be noted that the tips of the bristles39A and 49A of the brushes, revolve in close proximity to the housingportions 14 and 15 and in sweeping past the antrums 17 and 18respectively, the bristles will gather the foam that fills theseantr-ums and draw it one direction or the other, depending upon thedirection of rotation of the brushes into contact with the surface beingscrubbed.

I have discovered that the direction of rotation of the brushes may bein either direction, thus towards each other as shown by the arrows inFIGURE 5, or in the opposite direction. In each case, however, thebrushes work in opposite directions relative to each other, either bothtoward the center roller 42 or both away from the center roller 42. Forbest results I prefer to have the two brushes rotate toward the centerroller 42 since this tends to confine the foam under the housing1tl66-67 a little better than when the brushes rotate outwardly from thecenter roller 42, although excellent cleaning results are obtained foreither direction of rotation. The adjustment of the center roller 4-2permits the machine to be set a little higher or a little lower, and inso doing vary the amount of pressure which the brushes exert upon thenap of the rug being cleaned may be varied.

I have found that the machine can be worked to within approximatelythree-quarters of an inch of a baseboard around a wall and due to therectangular design of the machine, there are substantially no cornersleft unclean ed when working into a rectangular corner. Also, because ofthe low silhouette, the entire machine can be moved, by dropping thehandle downwardly, to a position which is under a seat in, for example,an aircraft, thereby permitting the rug under a seat to be cleaned aseffectively as though it was in the open. The temporary lowering of thehandle to the dotted positions does not adversely effect the operation.

By use of the present invention, a foam is produced which is so dry thatit does not possess tactile moisture, i.e. discrete particles ofmoisture which are discernible by touch. The foam as made by the machinewill remain for hours at a time. A handful of foam will disappear whenworked between the palms of ones hands and the hands will not feel moremoist than ones hands would outside in a fog. The foam produced by themechanism of the present invention by first generating the foam in atall tank, whereby the bubbles are permitted to dry as they rise, and bythen causing the foam to move under slight pressure and while confinedthrough a plurality of spaced successively finer screens, will provide afoam as above described, in which there is no moisture apparent to thetouch and none which can be seen.

This foam is then delivered under slight pressure to the antrum of themachine where it is directly engaged by the brushes and spread and usedupon the surface being cleaned. The machine can be used for cleaningrugs or hard surface floors, and exceptional cleaning results. Anyexcess foam can be picked up by a vacuum cleaner. Five minutes latertraffic can be permitted on the rug or floor, without bad results.

I prefer that the screen 112, which is a first screen in the successionof screens should have a mesh of from 20 to 60 mesh per square inch andthat the space successive screens 116 should preferably have a mesh offrom to 140 mesh. In an exemplary device screen 112 was 40 mesh andscreens 116 were 120 mesh. This gave excellent results. By spacing thescreens from each other and by providing successively finer meshscreens, and moving the foam under slight pressure through the system,the foam becomes very dry and has no moisture that can be seen or thatis apparent to touch. Yet the foam is long-lasting. Under someconditions, the foam will last for as much as eight or ten hours.

By use of the machine, excellent carpet, rug and smooth floor cleaningresults are obtained.

As many widely apparent different embodiments of this invention may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to beunderstood that I do not limit myself to the specific embodimentsherein.

What I claim is:

1. A carpet and fioor cleaning machine comprising a base housing havinga linear axis of motion during use, spaced parallel open-bottomcompartments in said housing transverse to said axis of motion, acylindrical brush journaled for rotation in each compartment, motormeans on the housing and connected to the brushes for rotating them, ahandle attached to the housing for guiding it, said handle being hollowand constructed to form a liquid container, foam generating means insaid hollow handle, a take off tube having an inlet opening into theinterior of the container above the level of the liquid in saidcontainer and means connected to said tube for conveying foam into saidcompartments and onto said brushes.

2. A carpet and floor cleaning machine comprising a base housing havinga linear axis of motion during use, spaced parallel open-bottomedcompartments, in said housing, transverse to said axis of motion, acylindrical brush journalled for rotation in each compartment, motormeans on the housing and connected to the brushes for rotating them, atall tank having its lower end pivotally connected to the base housingfor swinging movement about a pivot axis transverse to said axis ofmotion, said tank being provided with handles at its upper end wherebythe tank can be used as a handle for guiding the base housing, an aircompressor on the base housing and connected to the motor so as to bedriven thereby, a nozzle near the bottom of said tank connected to saidair compressor, and a foam dispensing conduit connected to the upperpart of the tank and to the compartments of the base housing forconveying foam from the tank to the compartments and thence onto saidbnlshes.

3. A carpet and floor cleaning machine comprising a base housing ofgenerally rectangular plan having on the bottom thereof two parallelspaced open-bottomed recesses, cylindrical brushes journalled in each ofsaid recesses for rotation therein, the diameter of said brushes beingsuch in relation to the recesses in which they operate that the tips ofthe bristles will be below the lower edge of the housing, a motormounted on the housing and connected to the brushes for simultaneouslyrotating them in opposite directions, a roller pivotally mounted on thehousing along an axis which is parallel to and between the axes of thebrushes, said roller being mounted for vertical adjustment relative tosaid housing and a handle in the form of a tall hollow closed tankhaving its lower end pivotally attached to the base housing for swingingmovement about an axis parallel to said roller axis, air compressormeans on the housing, nozzle means in the lower part of the tank, aconnection between the nozzle and the air compressor for discharging astream of air through the nozzle into the lower part of said tank and afoam conduit connecting the upper part of said tank and connected todischarge ports in said recesses for delivering foam from the tank ontosaid brushes as they rotate.

4. A carpet and floor cleaning machine comprising a base housing ofgenerally rectangular plan having on the bottom thereof two parallelspaced open-bottomed recesses, cylindrical brushes journalled in each ofsaid recesses for rotation therein, the diameter of said brushes beingsuch in relation to the recesses in which they operate that the tips ofthe bristles will be below the lower edge of the housing, a motormounted on the housing and connected to the brushes for simultaneouslyrotating them in opposite directions, roller means mounted on thehousing along an axis which is parallel to and between the axes of thebrushes for at least in part retaining the central portion of thehousing at any one of a plurality of preslected elevations above thefloor with at least the brush in engagement with the fioor as saidhousing is moved relative to the floor and a handle in the form of atall hollow closed tank having its lower end pivotally attached to thebase housing for swinging movement about an axis parallel to said rolleraxis, air compressor means on the housing, nozzle means in the lowerpart of the tank, a connection between the nozzle and the air compressorfor discharging a stream of air through the nozzle into the lower partof said tank, a foam conduit connecting the upper part of said tank andconnected to discharge ports in said recesses for delivering foam fromthe tank onto said brushes as they rotate, said conduit including ascreen inlet within said tank.

e machine speci ed as claim 4 further characterized in that said foamconduit includes several spaced screen in succession.

6. The machine specified in claim 4 further characterized in that saidfoam conduit includes several successively finer screens in successiontherein.

7. A carpet and floor cleaning machine comprising a base housing ofgenerally rectangular plan having on the bottom thereof two parallelspaced open-bottomed recesses, cylindrical brushes journalled in each ofsaid recesses for rotation therein, the diameter of said brushes beingsuch in relation to the recesses in which they operate that the tips ofthe bristles will be below the lower edge of the housing, a motormounted on an upper part of the housing, said motor having a driveconnection to said brushes for simultaneously rotating them in oppositedirections, an air compressor on said housing connected to the motor soas to be driven thereby, a combined tank and handle structure comprisinga tall closed tank having handles extending from the upper end thereof,the lower end of said tank being pivotally connected to said basehousing along an axis which is parallel to and between the axes of saidbrushes, a plurality of conduits vertically through said housing, and anelectrical power cord connected to the upper end of said tank andextending through switch means on the upper part of said tank and thencedownwardly through one of said conduits and connected to said motor onthe base housing, another of said conduits being connected at its lowerend to said air compressor, and connected at its upper end to a valvemounted in the upper portion of said tank and handle structure, anoutlet from said valve extending downwardly into the tank portion ofsaid tankand handle structure, and terminating in a discharge port, afoam tube extending into the tank portion of said tank and handlestructure, a screen inlet into said foam tube, said foam tube extendingdownwardly in respect to said tank and handle struc ture and having itslower end connected to said recesses for delivering foam into saidrecesses adjacent the said brushes.

' 8. The machine specified in claim 7 further characterized in that anantrum is provided on the upper portion of the housing above each of therecesses, each of the antrums being connected to the foam tube.

9. Th machine specified in claim 7 further characterized in that thetank and handle structure includes an open-topped sheet metal tank and acap and handle portion axially connected together in pressure-typerelationship.

10. The machine specified in claim 9 further characterized in that saidconduits form connections between said tank portion of the tank andhandle structure and the cap and handle portion thereof for mechanicallyconnecting them together.

11. A carpet and floor cleaning machine having a source of compressedair comprising a base housing having on the bottom thereof an openbottom compartment, a brush journalled in said compartment for rotationtherein, the diameter of said brush being in such relation to thecompartment in which it operates that the tips of the bristles will bebelow the lower edge of the housing, a motor mounted on the housing andconnected to the brush for rotating said brush, a control handle forcontrolling the direction of movement of the housing, and means on themachine and connected to the housing for generating and delivering foaminto the compartment and onto the brush, said means including a tank forcontaining a liquid, a plurality of vertically extending conduits, oneof said conduits having one end portion opening into the bottom of thetank, and an opposite end connected to the source of compressed air,said one end portion having a plurality of small apertures formedtherein to form a multitude of minute bubbles in the liquid in the tankas air is exhausted from the first conduit through said apertures, asecond conduit having one end portion opening to the interior of the topof said tank above the liquid in the tank, said second conduitterminating in a discharge port that opens into said housing compartmentand means in said second conduit adajcent the open end thereof forscreening said minute bubbles, said control handle being connected tosaid means.

12. A carpet and floor cleaning machine comprising a base housing of lowsilhouette having a linear direction of motion when in use, an openbottomed compartment in said housing generally transverse to saiddirection of motion, a cylindrical brush journaled in said compartmenton an axis transverse to said linear direction of motion and positionedso as to have bristles extending below the walls of said housing, motormeans on the housing connected to the brush for rotating said brush,means on the housing for controlling the direction of movement of thehousing and generating foam, said last mentioned means including anelongated closed liquid container pivotally attached to the housing atthe bottom of said container, the upper part of said container forming aguide handle, air compressor means on the housing and connected to themotor means, foam generating means having a flexible connection to thecompressor and extending into said container in the lower part thereof,and conduit means connected to the upper part of the container andextending down to and connected to the compartment in the base housingfor delivering foam directly thereinto.

13. The machine specified in claim 12 further characterized in that aplurality of successively finer screens are provided in the conduitmeans.

14. A scrubbing device for floors, rugs, carpets and the like comprisinga brush housing of low silhouette having a normal direction of motion, adownwardly opening brush compartment therein set transverse to saidnormal direction of motion, a cylindrical bristle brush rotatablymounted in said compartment so that its bristles brush downwardly belowthe compartment, a foam generator tank having a normal liquid level andclosable filler opening pivoted on the housing on an axis generallyparallel to the brush axis, said tank being tall enough to form a guidehandle for the housing, hand grips at the top of the tank, an aircompressor on the housing a motor on the housing connected to the aircompressor and brush for driving them, an air delivery conduitconnecting the air compressor and tank and terminating at a foam nozzlein the tank below the liquid level thereof, a foam delivery conduitextending from the upper part of the tank to the brush compartment, saidair delivery and foam conduits being sufficiently flexible to permitswinging movement of the tank relative to the housing.

15. The device specified in claim 14 further characterized in that saidcompartment is shaped to provide a foam delivery orifice along a majorportion of the length of the brush.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,268,963 Gray June 11, 1918 2,293,722 Erickson Aug. 25, 1942 2,396,846Hahn Mar. 19, 1946 2,735,125 Erbs Feb. 21, 1956 2,842,788 Rench et al.July 15, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 734,864 Great Britain Aug. 10, 1955

